Small House Living: Finding Room for a Desk

When you live in a small house and have an even smaller budget, you have to be, shall we say, “creative” with your solutions. Case in point: both Don and I freelance, therefore, all of our work related materials live here. We don’t leave the house and ‘go to an office.’ In my case, I write two blogs here, have tons of reference materials (including books) for my coaching work and my book reviews, all receipts for both the blog and my work away from home are kept here, along with a lot of the other paperwork that goes along with paying household bills.

We have the guest bedroom/office/Don’s studio, where there are two file cabinets – one for me, one for Don. Mine holds dialect research and other ‘must save’ information. Don uses the desk in that room for his work. But the rest of the room is filled with a bed, a linen cabinet, a fax machine, and all of Don’s guitars and music paraphernalia. It can’t simply be an office/studio space. It also has to function as a guest room.

Then I have the ‘studio’ in the upstairs hallway – but that’s where the sewing machines live. (I sometimes fantasize about storing the machines and using that worktop as a desk. We’ll see.)

A few years back, Don came home with a freebie he found on the curb. It was an ugly computer desk. My first response was, “Take it back.” But then I accepted Don’s challenge and reimagined it with paint and vintage fabric. To read more about that, click here. For a while, it sat in the den, but I decided I wanted a separate place to go when I had to do paperwork.

Where is there any extra space in this little cottage? Well, we have a little cupboard under the stairs where we store things that we don’t need to get to very often, which means that most of the time it’s wasted space. So why not put the desk there?

You can see the little closet behind the desk. When I need to access it, I move the desk away from the wall. It’s a bit of a pain, but this is the kind of thing you do when you live in a small space. You compromise.

The chair, by the way, is one of the chairs I am longing to get rid of. Soon.

Monday dawned and I knew I had to tackle this area, which had boxes stacked on top of the desk and baskets overflowing with paperwork. I sat on the floor, pulled out the baskets and sorted like a madwoman.

On the shelves beneath the desk: the wire basket holds all our paid bills, the stack to the right of it holds old agendas and notebooks, the basket on the left on the lower shelf holds all my receipts and paperwork for both the blog and my coaching work, the one on the right holds chargers, cords and my beloved Blackwings. The paint brushes in the cup are used for work on the dollhouse.

2014 paid bills/receipts have been gathered together with a giant rubber band and are now sitting in the big white cupboard in the living room. Everything else has been sorted, rearranged or dumped in the trash.

The top of the desk has been cleaned off and is ready for 2015.

My tins. The green one holds business cards that I want to hang on to.

The coaster was actually a rug made by someone for that mini swap. But it’s out of scale and too thick for the dollhouse, so I thought I’d repurpose it as a coaster. (My watch needs a new battery, that’s why it’s sitting there.)

My lamp find from the Country Living Fair with its temporary lampshade solution. Note to self: get on that. The little cottage with the two birds wall pocket was a gift from Judy.

Instead of trying to fit some sort of pin board in here, at least until I find one that works, I tied some thick trim I had to one of the spindles. Then I used oversized clothespins (I think I found them in the $1 bin at Target) to hold notes, one of which is my upcoming book review schedule. That photo is of Don and I on the beach in San Diego.

The wind chill today is below zero. I’m thinking I’d like to be back on that beach.

The doorstop was an auction find.

And my new tote bag lives on the chair.

No, the desk isn’t elegant. It’s sort of funky. It was free. Total cost? $0. The paint I had on hand, the vintage fabric was in my stash. I’d say you can’t beat the price.

I’ve taken a rarely used space and made it into a work area for a girl with several irons in the fire.

Great little desk! Pretty and useful. Love that chair…isn’t stable? And I love that clothespin idea! I think when you have a smallish area to work with, there is always more creativity…and you’ve proven my point! Stay warm…it’s bitter cold here too! ;)

Hi Claudia, nice to meet you. I found your blog from Chy’s blog ‘Our Little House In The Big Woods’. I have really enjoyed reading back through some of your posts, and love your decorating style, and reading about your cottage and lifestyle.mi am following you now on bloglovin, so I will be able to keep up with your adventures! X

I’ve been wanting to replace my old computer desk for quite some time, but haven’t found a replacement that I like and can afford. You have inspired me to give my desk a make over & I can’t wait to get started!

Love the look of the desk — doesn’t look like a “computer desk” at all!! And especially love the little cubby/closet behind the desk. There was one like that in my grandparent’s home. It was a great place to store things…or for grandchildren to find things!!

A smaller house does fire one’s imagination to make possessions fit. I’m in the process (never-ending process) of organizing/cleaning out my house too. I finally got my stitching and knitting supplies pretty much organized. I have to tackle the sewing things.

It moves easily enough, that’s not a big problem. I just have to move the rug, push the desk away from the wall and make sure the desk is far enough away from the wall for the door to swing open. Then I have to get on my knees to retrieve anything in the closet!

Know how it is fitting everything in, BUT aren’t we lucky to have such cozy small homes for many other reasons!
We have managed to fit in all we really require to live comfortably in just 1200 sq.ft. Of course we are retired – don’t have the work related paraphernalia now that Bob is totally retired even from the consulting years which followed his first retirement. I no longer do scrapbooking or much sewing so have given away a lot of supplies for those hobbies. Sometimes I envy friends who have big sprawling homes with dedicated rooms for particular hobbies and projects, but then think how fortunate I am to have the cottage which I love and is right for us.
Love what you’ve made of your sweet cottage Claudia – you know that by now!
Hugs – Mary X

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband and dog. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating. My decorating style is eclectic but if I had to call it anything, I'd call it Christmas in Connecticut, after all those forties movies with comfy cottage style.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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